Staffordshire Trading Standards is once again joining forces with Staffordshire Police in a campaign to promote the responsible sale of knives.
As part of Operation Sceptre, Trading Standards officers will work alongside police colleagues across the county, visiting retailers who sell knives and other bladed products.
The activity will focus on helping businesses understand their legal responsibilities, preventing underage sales and promoting the safe and responsible storage and sale of knives.
The week of action follows recent underage sales exercises carried out by Staffordshire Trading Standards during the October.
Officers and young volunteers visited retailers across five districts, carrying out test purchases of age-restricted products including knives, vapes and alcohol. Encouragingly, none of the attempted knife purchases resulted in an unlawful sale to a young volunteer.
Anthony Screen, Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Resilience at Staffordshire County Council, said:
"Knife crime remains a concern for communities across the country and, while Staffordshire is a safe county in which to live and work, we must not become complacent.
"Our approach is very much about working with responsible businesses. By partnering with Staffordshire Police, we can visit retailers, discuss their responsibilities and provide practical advice on age verification and the responsible storage and sale of knives.
"The results of our recent retailer compliance checks are encouraging. Businesses across Staffordshire continue to demonstrate a strong commitment to preventing underage sales and complying with the law.
"Keeping knives out of the hands of children and young people is a shared responsibility. Maintaining strong relationships between Trading Standards, the police and Staffordshire's retailers is an important part of keeping our communities safe."
Officers continue to promote Staffordshire's Responsible Retailer Scheme, which encourages businesses to adopt good practice including Challenge 25, staff training, keeping knives securely displayed and stored, recording refused sales and considering whether a sale should be refused where there are concerns about how a knife may be used.
Force knife crime lead, Superintendent David Barrow, said:
“We pro-actively work to reduce knife crime all-year round. This week of action helps us to build upon our progress to educate young people on the dangers and consequences of carrying a knife and to reduce the number of knives on the streets by working with partners such as Staffordshire Trading Standards.
“The police have a part to play both in terms of the pursuit and prevention of knife crime. However, there needs to be a multi-agency response to tackling this issue and we hope to see the great work being delivered by partners continuing.”
Staffordshire Police, Fire & Rescue and Crime Commissioner, Ben Adams who is chair of the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Violence Reduction Alliance (VRA) said:
"Knife crime has long-lasting impacts on individuals, families and communities. It is not an issue one organisation can tackle alone.
“Reducing and preventing knife crimes requires a partnership response that brings together prevention, enforcement and education. By working together, partners of the VRA continue to reduce the risk of harm, support safer communities and help prevent knife crime before it begins."
Anyone with information or concerns about the illegal sale of knives or other age-restricted products can report this to Staffordshire Trading Standards through the council's Report It service or confidential helpline on 01785 330356. Previous joint campaigns have used this reporting route for illegal knife sales.
